Parabolic profile pyramidal horn antenna with lower phase centre variation and 3 dB beamwidth in S‐band

Abstract

A parabolic profile pyramidal horn antenna with flaring in both the E- and H-plane is presented in this study. The proposed structure having aperture dimensions of 518.10 × 408.36 mm2 is designed and fabricated for S-band (2.2–3.3 GHz). Due to increase in the flaring by 3.35 ° in the E-plane and 3.18 ° in the H- plane compared to the optimal typical pyramidal horn antenna (TPHA), a half-power beamwidth (HPBW) of less than 16.20 ° in both the planes with higher gain is achieved in the proposed antenna. The maximum phase centre (PC) variation, phase and amplitude variation of the electric field across the aperture in the proposed design are half compared to TPHA throughout the band, thus having good PC stability and lower phase error. The cross-polarisation level and the measured return loss of <25 and 15 dB, respectively, is achieved throughout the band, thus providing a good impedance matching and single dominant mode of propagation, i.e. TE10. With the lower HPBW and higher gain, the proposed antenna can be used in applications where point directive beam is required such as wireless power transfer to charge sensors and batteries of quad-copter and so on.